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A comparative study of endolithic microborings in basaltic lavas from a transitional subglacial–marine environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2009

Claire R. Cousins ,
John L. Smellie ,
Adrian P. Jones  and
Ian A. Crawford
Claire R. Cousins*
Affiliation:
Centre for Planetary Sciences, UCL/Birkbeck Research School of Earth Sciences, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
John L. Smellie
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
Adrian P. Jones
Affiliation:
Centre for Planetary Sciences, UCL/Birkbeck Research School of Earth Sciences, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Ian A. Crawford
Affiliation:
Centre for Planetary Sciences, UCL/Birkbeck Research School of Earth Sciences, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
*
e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Subglacially erupted Neogene basaltic hyaloclastites in lava-fed deltas in Antarctica were found to contain putative endolithic microborings preserved in fresh glass along hydrous alteration boundaries. The location and existence over the past 6 Ma of these lava deltas has exposed them to successive interglacials and subsequent percolation of the hyaloclastite with marine water. A statistical study of the hyaloclastites has found that endolithic microborings are distinctly more abundant within samples that show evidence for marine alteration, compared with those that have remained in a strictly freshwater (glacial) environment. Additionally, correlation between elevation and the abundance of microborings shows endolithic activity to be more prolific within lower elevation samples, where the hyaloclastites were influenced by marine fluids. Our study strongly suggests that endolithic microborings form more readily in marine-influenced, rather than freshwater environments. Indeed, marine fluids may be a necessary precondition for the microbial activity responsible. Thus, we suggest that the chemistry and origin of alteration fluids are controlling factors on the formation of endolithic microborings in basaltic glass. The study also contributes to the understanding of how endolithic microborings could be used as a biosignature on Mars, where basaltic lavas and aqueous alteration are known to have existed in the past.

Keywords

AntarcticabioalterationendolithicfreshwaterglaciovolcanismhyaloclastiteMars
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 8 , Special Issue 1: Papers from the Astrobiology Society of Britain Conference 2008 , January 2009 , pp. 37 - 49
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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